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Travel Tips

Read these 27 Travel Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Parent tips and hundreds of other topics. Become a Guru or Become an Advertiser.

Travel Tips has been rated 3.1 out of 5 based on 1232 ratings and 1 user reviews.

Licence Plate Countdown

This game requires that each player spot numbers on licence plates from one to nine. As each number is called out, everyone looks for the next number. Only one number can be taken from each plate. The first to reach the number 9 wins. This game can also be played looking for letters "A to Z".

Purse Game

This is a way to help small children learn to classify objects. Empty your purse or wallet. After they have looked over the objects, ask them if they can tell you what all of them are and if they can see a way to put things together by size or shape or color, what they are made of or how they sound, etc.

Postcards Home

To keep your family vacation memories alive after you return home, bring along a supply of stamps so you can send yourselves postcards from stops along the way. This is also a great reading and writing activity for the kids. Write down a favorite memory from that day or stop, and drop it in the mail. The postcard will provide a photo, and your message a memory. Once you have received all of your postcards, assemble them into an album. Use a sleeve album so that you can see both sides of the cards when viewing.

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Leave a Light On

When traveling, be sure to throw a night light into your suitcase. If your kids happen to wake up in a strange room, they will be less frightened since there will be less scary shadows. It will also be easier for you to get around in a strange room without waking up the kids.

Travel Pastime

For plane or car travel, bring along peel-and-stick removable window decals. They help keep kids entertained for hours because they can create new scenes again and again.

Map Game

Using the map that routes your trip, make a short list of places that are shown on the route. Give a copy of the map to the kids and challenge them to find the various locations as you pass them. Ask questions like "What city are we near?" or ask them to plot a route between two cities that you name. This activity also develops children's knowledge of geography.

Alphabet Games

Pass the time by playing this simple game. Begin by saying "Mummy went to the store to buy groceries and first bought APPLES". Then ask the first child to think of the next item on the shopping list beginning with B, such as BREAD. The next child thinks of something beginning with C, and so on. This also encourages creativity and development of vocabulary skills.

Crazy Car Plates

In this game, a child can make up phrases using the letters he or she spots on a license plate. For example, a car ahead reads VFT 456. The players call out "Very fat tiger" or "Valentine for teacher". Then on to the next plate. This game also encourages creativity.

Cool Drink on a Hot Day

If traveling in the summer, try packing frozen drinking boxes. They will serve as an ice pack for other food, and will be cool and refreshing when the need arises.

Mini-Navigators

Photocopy and enlarge the portion of a map with the highways you will be travelling, then highlight your route with a marker. Glue the map to a piece of cardboard and cover it with contact paper. Your kids will love tracking your progress.

The Personal Bag

On long journeys, give each child his or her own small trip bag, with their names printed on it. Each bag should be pre-packed with a list of games to play, new surprises and a favorite toy. This will give each child a promise of fun on the trip to come.

Travel Souvenirs

Have your kids keep a scrapbook of your trip. Help them collect things during the day to put in the scrapbook each night: travel brochures, postcards, a free kids' menu, an interesting placemat from a restaurant, or a pretty leaf from a tree where you stopped to picnic. Label and make notes about the items you collect. This makes a wonderful souvenir at the end of your trip!

Travel Snacks

Snacks should be an essential part of travelling, even if the distance from here to there is a short one (less than two hours).

Ideal food to take will be determined by the method of travel (car, plane, bus, train), the distance to travel, time of year, and age(s) of the kid(s).

Simple snacks can consist of dried cereal, trail mix, and jerky treats. Dry treats are the best when using public methods of travel such as on a plane, bus, or train. Chocolate covered candy bars, cookies, and/or cake can make a huge mess, even in the hands of a neat child.

If travelling by car, a small ice chest can hold great snacks like apple slices, berries, oranges, baby carrots, and water. These are especially great foods when vacationing during the hot, summer months. Plus, serving vegetables and fruit can help avoid stomach upset and constipation, which can complicate trips.

Any snacks served with chocolate can melt in the car, even in mild spring weather. Be sure the kids are old enough to not smear it on everything and on everyone around them and the chocolate covered yummies are in containers that won't leak.

Instead of sugar filled drinks (including more than 4-6 oz of juice), serve water. Although it may not be as exciting, it will help the trip go much smoother if the child isn't more hyper than normal because he/she's had juice, tea, or soda.

The last thing available when serving snacks is hand wipes. No matter how neat the child or snack is, it’s never a bad idea to wash hands after eating.

Make Rest Stops Count

When traveling with kids be sure to pack items like a Frisbee, Koosh, jump rope, or ball for activities at rest stops. Bring chalk along to make a hopscotch board, and after a little activity you will all feel much better climbing back into the car.

Make a List

Before leaving home, make a list of things you might see.

Better yet, look up the areas you're traveling on the internet and see what spots are worth a look. There are many hidden destinations, great finds, and cool events and festivals that might be fun and a nice break.

Part of the experience of travel, is learning new things and going to new places. Not just the tourist spots, but the hidden treasures of a city.

Doing a little research before hand can prove to give you the trip of a lifetime.




Baby Travel

When traveling with a baby, instead of taking a diaper bag, put your baby's diapers, wipes, food and toys in a plastic basket on the floorboard of your car. This way it is much easier to get what is needed while on the road.

Getting There on Time

When you visit friends or family, don't be definite about your arrival time. You can never predict what may occur on the way and this will prevent that cry of "But we told them we'd be there by three!" Remember to stop every two to three hours on longer trips for rest and re-energizing.

Bright and Early

Leave for long trips in the early hours of the morning. The kids will be sleepy and you can begin the trip in a very relaxed state. (Pack up the night before, so all you need to do is get in the car and go.)

For the road

Always keep a towel, wipes, spare diapers a few garbage bags, spare blankie, a bottle of water and some crackers in your trunk. This way, in case of an emergency you're set!

Keep Little Travelers Busy

Keep a disposable camera in your bag to give to your kids as a surprise when the find themselves bored and restless. They will enjoy taking the pictures, and you will end up with some fantastic souvenirs.

Travel Time

When planning a long car ride, bring along favorite children's books on tape. Younger kids are happy to listen, while older kids can follow along and turn the pages on "cue" from the tape. This is a great help in making time fly!

Convenient Hand Cleaners

Collect fast food vinegar packets to keep in your car as convenient hand cleaners. They do a great job at cleaning greasy hands. Keep a stash in your glove compartment.

Shoes Off!

Kids will travel better in a relaxed state so remember their small pillows and favorite blankets for naps.

Lessen Bathroom Stops

To avoid constant washroom breaks when traveling, give the kids a cup of crushed ice instead of a soft drink. It will last a lot longer, lessen bathroom breaks and be less messy. Not to mention the fact that it is a much healthier alternative, too.

Are We There Yet?

To help a young child know how long a trip will take, bring along two small plastic containers and several quarters. In the first container place one quarter (25 cents) for each 15 mins. that you think the trip will take. Every 15 mins. move one quarter over to the other container. At the end of the trip, all of the quarters will be in the second container. Younger children love this game and it helps them to conceptualize the passing of time.

Pretend Your an Ant

While traveling, take turns pretending you are an ant, and picking a spot in the car where an ant would hide. The other players guess, and the "ant" provides clues by telling guessers whether they are hot or cold.

Vacation Countdown

Young children, who don't have a developed sense of time, can find it very difficult to understand how long they must wait before you leave on a vacation. To make it easier for your child to visualize the time, make a paper chain with one chain for each day until the trip. Each night, remove one link and count how many days are left.
 
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